Tredegar's principal trombone player Stephen Sykes will give the premiere of a new concerto by composer Christopher Bond, entitled 'Nexus’, in Cardiff in February.

Together

The performance has arisen following a growing musical collaboration between the students at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama where they have been working together to produce a major new work for the instrument.

A special lunchtime concert will be held at the college’s impressive Dora Stoutzker Hall on the 14th February, with Stephen performing the work with an orchestra put together especially for the event.

Also featured will be works by other composition students at the college, Lewis Furber, James Golborn and Ben Lunn.

Time

The composer told 4BR: "I've spent a lot of time on this work letting ideas come together over a period of almost a year now. It’s really something quite different for me to write music on this scale, thinking about how to link major themes to create something exciting."

Stephen is also looking forward to the premiere. "It’s been a great experience working alongside Christopher – especially as he really is extending me as a performer. It’s a brilliant new work that I hope will be played time and time again."

It’s been a great experience working alongside Christopher – especially as he really is extending me as a performer. It’s a brilliant new work that I hope will be played time and time againStephen Sykes

No stranger

No stranger to brass writing, it follows a successful year for Christopher with performances of works at the RNCM Festival of Brass, Black Dyke Brass Festival, the International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Austria, as well as his Jubilee Fanfare being performed as HM Queen Elizabeth & Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Wales as part of their Diamond Jubilee Tour.